Just Friends
by Link015
Summary: [Shoujo ai]Mia was a simple girl. All she needed was some money in her pocket, food in her stomach, and a job in the works. Joining Ike's army seemed to solve all of her problems. But when she meets someone new, how will her life change?
1. Concern

Chris: Well, I'm back with another story. The good thing is that this will be short…Like six chapters max. Okay, shorter than normal. I hope you enjoy it!

Note: Will most likely contain shoujo-ai. Still uncertain at the moment, however.

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Chapter 1: Concern**

Mia sighed in relief as she stared up at the sunny sky above her. "I would never have thought that I would still be alive…" The purple-haired mercenary stretched and yawned, her muscles aching with strain. The day before, their small group had come under a furious assault by Daein forces. It was only because of their luck and skill, plus the help of unexpected Gallian reinforcements, that pulled them through the fight. Mia drew her sword, which shone brightly in the afternoon sun, and began taking a couple of practice swings in the air.

'_Yesterday sure was close…'_ Mia thought to herself as she finished off a quick three-strike combo into the air. The myrmidon sheathed her sword, her training momentarily banished from her mind. She decided to go see how everyone else was doing. After all, it wasn't just her that could've died; it was all of them.

The first person she encountered was Boyd, who was grumbling angrily to himself as he furiously swung his practice axe through the air. "Practice, practice, practice. That's all they want me to do. Sheesh…You would think that one-hundred swings would be enough, but nooo…Titania wants me to do two-hundred."

"Hey Boyd! You're finally training!" Mist waved to the green-haired fighter, a smirk on her face. "Titania hold your lunch hostage if you didn't practice?"

"Stuff it, Mist." Boyd said as he swung his axe again. He wiped a couple of beads of sweat off of his forehead before continuing. "Go bother your brother or something. I've got some very important things to do."

Mia continued on her away, wisely not getting involved in the situation. It was no secret that Mist enjoyed teasing Boyd for his less than stellar fighting habits. As for the reason why, Mia was uncertain about that and she wasn't about to go stick her nose into somebody else's business. The next person up on her little trip was Oscar, who had taken time off from whatever business he had been doing in order to take up some reading.

"Hey Mia." Oscar looked up at her, with his customary smile and his closed eyes.

"How did you know it was me?" Mia asked, stunned. As far as she knew, she had been pretty silent when she was walking and by all appearances, it seemed as if Oscar's eyes were closed.

"Saw you coming." Oscar's smile grew slightly wider. "Just because you don't see my eyes open now doesn't mean they weren't open earlier." The green-haired cavalier returned to his reading, absentmindedly flipping a page.

"I…see…" Mia replied as she bid Oscar farewell. Another thing about this group that she had to get used to was the fact that most of them had…unique personalities. While it certainly added an interest to her life, it was also slightly strange to see how all these people managed to work together.

And next up was Ilyana, the newest recruit. Mia suppressed a smirk at how she had first met the light-purple haired mage.

_---_

"_We can't back down! Everyone, do your best!" Ike yelled over the din of the thunderstorm, holding his rain-soaked sword in his hand. The blue-haired leader of the mercenaries shouted out a battle cry before swinging his sword down in an overhead chop, severing an enemy's spear in two and consequently ending his life._

"_Huff…huff…" Mia panted, holding her sword wearily as she shook raindrops off of her hair, which did no good, as more rain continued to pelt down on them. She was tired, to say the least, as they had been fighting for at least three straight hours with still no victory in sight. She looked around warily and spotting no enemies, she planted her sword blade first into the ground and allowed herself a couple of moments rest. Suddenly, however, she spotted movement to her left and she quickly got into a battle position, only to pause when she saw her attacker was a young girl of about her height._

"_Achoo!" The girl sneezed, her light-purple hair hanging limply on her pale skin. She stared at Mia with her eyes, which possessed the same color as her hair. "Ooog…"_

"_What?" Mia asked, slightly confused. "Are you okay?"_

_The girl nodded shakily, sneezing again. "Um…"_

"_Yeah? Is there something wrong? Because you know there's a fight going on. You might be in danger." Mia walked up to the girl, not worried about any sign of attack. "Sheesh, you aren't even dressed for the weather."_

"_Neither are you…" The girl returned, her voice soft. "Um…Are you the leader of this army?"_

"_Me? Hah!" Mia let out a laugh. "Of course not. The leader is the blue-haired kid over there." She pointed at where Ike was. "Talk to him if you want to know something."_

"_Okay." The girl nodded before turning to leave._

"_Hey, wait! What's your name?" Mia asked, curious._

"_Ilyana…My name is Ilyana." Ilyana replied, looking at Mia somberly._

"_My name's Mia, okay? Good luck!"_

_Ilyana managed a small smile and she nodded. "Same to you."_

_---_

"I'm so hungry…" Ilyana whispered to herself as she walked through the halls of the broken down fort. She placed hand over stomach weakly, feeling as if her stomach had collapsed into a giant hole. The mage felt her stomach rumble with hunger and she rubbed it soothingly, hoping that somehow that would help reduce the pain. The light-purple haired mage was dressed in a couple of Mia's clothes that the myrmidon had been happy to lend her, due to the fact that her regular clothes were thoroughly soaked.

"Oh, Ilyana!" Mia walked up to the younger girl, smiling. "Are you okay?"

Ilyana only nodded, not trusting her mouth to speak, afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd try to bite off one of Mia's fingers. She was just that hungry and the expression, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," wasn't such an exaggeration anymore.

"Oh yeah! Mist made a couple of snacks for us and I thought I'd bring you some. You want them?" Mia opened her pouch and drew out a couple of packets of freshly baked cookies. Ilyana stared at them for a while, feeling saliva start to collect in her mouth. She nodded vigorously and Mia handed some of the cookies to her with a smile.

"Thanks Mia." Ilyana mumbled before tossing a cookie into her mouth and savoring the flavor and satisfying her hunger, at least for a couple of minutes. She quickly ate another one of the cookies and wiped the crumbs off of her chin.

"Wow, you sure can eat a lot…" Mia remarked. She handed the last bag of cookies to Ilyana, who accepted it gratefully. "Well, take care and don't eat too fast. You could get sick." The myrmidon walked off, humming to herself.

Ilyana watched her go for a while before eating another one of the cookies. After consuming five more, her stomach finally ceased in its rumblings and she let out a sigh of relief. It was strange. Even with all she ate, she was still relatively slim. Her mom had told her that it was because of a rapid metabolism. Shrugging, Ilyana walked off, threading a finger through her hair and licking the last bits of cookie off of her lips.

_---_

"Everyone ready? Let's dig in!" Boyd said as the mercenaries sat around a stone table that held their dinner. He sniffed the air appreciatively. "Mmm…This smells good."

"Cheers!" Mia cried, signaling the beginning of the feast. She reached out for a chicken leg, only to pause as she spotted Ilyana, who had already downed a whole ear of corn and was working her way around the table, starting with Mist's potatoes. The purple-haired mercenary could only watch as Ilyana single-handedly managed to clear off at least one-fourth of the table by herself.

'_I guess leftovers are out of the question…'_ Mia thought wryly as she began munching on her food. She was really amazed at how Ilyana managed to pack everything away, yet she still possessed her dignity and ate politely. "Um…Ilyana?"

"…?" Ilyana turned towards her, chewing on some chicken. She cocked her head to the side, her mouth to full to say anything besides a couple of squeaks.

"Aren't you going to…I don't know…hurt yourself if you eat that much?" Mia asked.

Ilyana chewed for a couple of more seconds before swallowing. "No…At least, not yet." The light-purple haired girl returned to her eating, leaving Mia to wonder how big of an appetite Ilyana possessed.

_---_

The next day they were back on the road, traveling to Gallia to obtain the help of the laguz king there. Mia, having been raised in a laguz-friendly community, didn't mind the trip, nor did she mind the two laguz that were temporary allies in their fight. As they walked down a side road that led to Gallia, she glanced behind her to make sure he partner, Ilyana, wasn't lagging behind. Just like how Soren accompanied Ike in their fights, they decided it would be smart to have Ilyana accompany Mia, and thus a new partnership was born.

Mia was having second thoughts about the arrangement, however. While she had no doubt about the amount of magical power that Ilyana possessed, it always seemed like Ilyana was a sickly girl. Her skin was pale and she had frequent fainting spells at the oddest of moments. It didn't help that her traveling clothes weren't suited for this type of hiking. The purple miniskirt she wore might attract attention in towns, but out in the wilderness, it just left more of her skin to be exposed to the cold.

Mia had to admit though, that Ilyana had a great pair of legs. And the soft green color of her blouse only served to make her purple hair seem more radiant. Mia banished the thoughts from her mind. They had a mission to do and she wasn't going to let thoughts of that nature interfere with her work.

"Hey Ilyana. Are you feeling okay? You don't look so good…" Mia remarked as she looked back at the mage. It was true. Her hands were hanging limply at her sides and her skin seemed even whiter than normal. Ilyana looked up at Mia and slowly shook her head.

"I'm fine…" Ilyana lied. As a matter of fact, she was extremely, extremely hungry, but she didn't want to impose on Mia that much. She stared at the myrmidon, wondering if her fingers were tasty.

"You sure about that?" Mia paused.

Ilyana's stomach gave off a rumble. She gave up on not trying to impose and walked up to Mia, looking to see if she had any tasty snacks around her. Ilyana licked her lips. Even the thought of food was somehow satisfying her stomach to a small degree. "Do you have any food? I'm hungry…"

"Hungry? Still?" Mia looked on at Ilyana with astonishment. "Well, sure, I have some things I keep around in an emergency."

"Please…Can I have it? I'm so hungry…" Ilyana begged, her sharp nose beginning to pick up on the scent of candied fruits. Mia shrugged and unhooked a small bag from her belt.

"Here you go. You have to make them last though. I don't have that many in there." Mia warned before returning to her position in the front.

Ilyana opened the bag and let out a small squeak of happiness. She pulled out a sugared plum and promptly tossed it into her mouth. Her taste buds and her stomach immediately thanked her as an explosion of flavor resounded through her mouth. The light-purple haired mage strained to catch of glimpse of Mia. She had to thank her for the food. After all, it's not she needed to give her food.

'_She's been really nice to me…I should return the favor somehow…'_ Ilyana thought to herself as she tried to follow Mia's advice and not eat anymore. It was a hopeless battle and she popped another candied fruit into her mouth. _'I really should…'_

_---_

"Of all the things to happen!" Ike cursed as he watched Daein soldiers leap out of their hiding spot and establish a defensive formation that would prevent them from moving forward. The only option left to them was to fight. "Boyd, Titania, Oscar, go down south! Soren, Mia, Ilyana, Rhys and I will loop from the beach down to meet up with you!"

"Brother!"

"Mist, what are you doing here?" Ike whirled on his little sister, his eyes flashing dangerously.

The young brown-haired girl clutched a simple, wooden staff that was topped by a sapphire. She steeled her nerves and looked straight at her older brother. "I'm going to help you fight!"

"No, Mist! Go back to the caravan! I don't want you to be in danger!" Ike pointed back down the road, where Muston and the rest of their convoy were waiting.

"I won't! I'm going to fight with you and so is Rolf!" Mist said, standing her ground.

"What?" Boyd and Oscar shouted. Their youngest brother, a bright-green haired kid holding a bow ran up.

"Yeah. We're tired of waiting!" Rolf cried. "Besides, we can fight!"

"Oh yeah? What can you do, squirt? Get back in the wagon." Boyd said, glaring at Rolf angrily.

"I can fight as well as any of you!" Rolf replied as he notched an arrow in his bow and launched it at a tree around thirty feet away, where it thudded into the tree and stuck there. "See?"

"Where did you learn how to fire a bow?" Oscar asked, frowning. "Neither Boyd nor I have any experience in that matter…"

"Um…Uh…" Rolf searched in his head for an explanation. "I'm a prodigy! Yeah, a child prodigy!"

"I don't believe that for a second." Boyd muttered.

"You're not going to listen to us, are you?" Ike looked down at the two of them. They both nodded vigorously and Ike sighed. "Fine. Mist and Rolf, you go down with the others." He looked up at Titania. "Keep an eye on them, okay?"

"Of course, Ike." The red-haired paladin motioned to the two children. "Don't go wandering off, okay? This isn't a picnic."

"Let's go already. Daein isn't going to wait for a couple of kids to learn how to fight." Soren said, folding his arms across his chest. Rolf replied by sticking his tongue at the black-robed magician. "Only speaking my mind. I still think that you two don't belong anywhere close to the field of battle."

"Hmph, I'll show you." Rolf mumbled under his breath as he got an arrow ready for his bow. "I'm better than you all think…"

_---_

"Why are there pirates here? I don't think they're here for the fight…" Mia said to herself as she watched a bandanna-wearing pirate walk on the beach away from her. She sharpened her eyesight slightly and saw what he was doing. "Even in the middle of nowhere, scum like that still try to ruin lives!" Mia gripped her sword tighter. She wasn't fond of pirates in the first place and seeing one try to burn down a house didn't exactly raise her opinion of them.

"Ilyana, wait up for me!" Mia said before she dashed after the pirate, her feet slipping slightly on the sandy ground. Ilyana watched her, confused as to what she had to do. After all, Ike had told them to act as a team…

'_Ike does hold more power than Mia…'_ She thought to herself and she decided to trail Mia and take care of any enemies that the myrmidon might have missed. Speaking of which…There was an enemy swordsman who looked like he could take advantage of Mia's distracted state. Ilyana decided to destroy his illusions.

Pulling out a small tome with yellow binding, she flipped to a page and began chanting the words on the page. Holding her fingers together in a cross pattern, she tossed a hand towards the sky and a streak of lightning flew from the sky and crashed onto the unsuspecting myrmidon, eliminating him.

Ilyana smiled slightly at her handiwork. It wasn't something to be proud of, since she had just killed a living being. However, she did it in order to protect her friend, which was a good thing. _'Friend? When did I start considering Mia a friend? …Doesn't matter. I could always use more friends like her.'_

Mia, on the other hand, had focused all her energies onto the pirate. Finally catching up to the slower man, she gave a cry of victory and brought her sword down at the pirate's head. However, he had already heard her and was all set with a trick of her own. As Mia came down, the pirate rolled to the side and slashed her on the side with his axe. The purple-haired girl staggered backwards, stunned.

She reflexively put a hand to her side, wincing as she felt her wound. A numbing sensation began sinking through her side and her eyes widened slightly. _'Poison! How could I be so stupid?'_ She collapsed on one knee, panting.

"Heh heh, girlie. Caught you by surprise, have I?" The pirate tossed his axe over his shoulder, smirking. He raised his axe high over his head, ready to bring it down on the suffering girl. As he did so, another streak of lightning flashed through the sky and collided with the metal blade of his axe, the current traveling down the pirate's body. He let out a hoarse scream before collapsing on the ground, his skin sizzling.

"Il…Ilyana?" Mia panted, struggling to stand up as the numbing sensation continued to run through her body. She turned, spotting the light-purple haired mage running towards her, screaming words that she couldn't hear. Mia let out a small sigh and felt the world slip out of her feet as she sank into unconsciousness.

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Chris: Hope you enjoyed it. And yes, this is multi-chaptered. As for the pairings, I'm still uncertain of it. I'm leaning towards making it Mia x Ilyana shoujo-ai, except I've never written stuff of that type before and I'm not certain of the reactions. Still, I feel like writing it and I usually write what I feel like writing. 

Eh, oh well. Leave advice and comments if you wish!


	2. A Helping Hand

Chris: Here's a new chapter for you all. And now I've decided that I am going to make this a shoujo-ai fic. Mainly because I can think of an idea for it and I planned for the shoujo-ai anyway. So read on if you wanna!

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**Chapter 2: A Helping Hand**

"Mia!" Ilyana shouted in fear, running towards the fallen mercenary. Struggling in the sand, which constantly shifted under her feet, she finally made it to Mia. Ilyana gave a small gasp when she saw how rapidly the poison had worked through Mia's bloodstream. The swordswoman was pale and shaking and sweat dampened her brow. Ilyana hurriedly wiped away some of the sweat with a handkerchief she pulled from her bag.

"Rhys!" Ilyana yelled at the orange-haired healer. "Rhys, I need your help!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Ilyana?" Rhys ran towards her, his healing staff banging against his legs. He kneeled next to Mia's trembling body and nodded. "I see. It's a good thing we picked this staff earlier."

Rhys rummaged through his belongings to withdraw a thin, wooden staff topped by a shining green stone. He gently placed the stone on top of Mia's forehead and closed his eyes. "My goddess Ashera, lend me your magical arts and cure this girl from whatever sickness ails her."

A calming glow emanated from the stone and enveloped Mia's whole body. In a couple of moments, Rhys removed the gem from Mia's forehead and gave a small sigh. "She should be fine now. The poison has been removed from her body."

"Phew…Thanks Rhys. She'll be okay, right?" Ilyana asked, brushing back one of her purple-white pigtails. She breathed a small sigh of relief and rubbed her stomach. Recent events had made her even hungrier than usual. "Ah…I don't suppose you have any food on you."

"Me? Well, I carry a banana along with me." Rhys offered, holding out the yellow fruit. Ilyana gratefully accepted it and wolfed it down, ignoring regular manners in face of soothing her hunger. Rhys watched her with an amused expression on his face, holding out a napkin for the mage to use once she was done eating.

"Ilyana?" Mia murmured sleepily, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep. "Rhys? Why are both of you here? Is there a party that I'm not aware of?" She smiled wanly and pushed herself up on her elbows.

"Oh, Mia! You're awake!" Ilyana said happily. She hugged Mia briefly before motioning to Rhys. "He helped heal you."

"Thank you so much, Rhys." Mia smiled at the healer, her blue-green eyes twinkling. Taking a deep breath, she managed to stand, although she stumbled back onto the sand directly afterwards. She gave a goofy smile and laughed. "Guess I'm still a little bit weak."

"Glad I could be of assistance. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm needed elsewhere." Rhys bowed quickly before dashing off, shouting at the distant figure of Ike, who seemed to be wounded in the arm.

"Come on, I think I'm ready. Let's go. We can't let this stop us." Mia staggered back to her feet and managed to steady herself. She winked at Ilyana. "I thought I told you to wait for me…But I'm glad that you decided to follow your own instincts. Phew, that really was close." She headed off towards some of the homes in the distance, intent on warning the occupants of the danger they were in.

Ilyana quickly followed behind, her thunder tome tucked underneath her shoulder. A small smile flittered on her face as she watched Mia run ahead of her. _'It's a good thing that Rhys was around. I would hate to lose my first friend.'_

_---_

The remainder of the battle finished without any other incidents, other than the crazy pirate that only spoke in rhymes. He called himself Nedata and kept dancing, even when he was trying to chop Mia's head off. A skilled piece of swordplay knocked the axe out of Nedata's hand and Ilyana stunned him with a quick burst of electricity. Mia finished him off by plunging her sword into Nedata's chest.

"Hah hah!" Mia crowed. "Nobody alive can beat me, especially a cock-eyed fool like thee!" She paused when she looked back at the words she said. "Aw, dammit. His stupid rhyming is getting stuck in my head. I'm just happy now that he's dead."

Ilyana giggled as she watched the swordswoman's antics. Mia was now cursing at the fallen body, somehow rhyming even though she spat out words that not even the most ferocious of people should know.

"Mia, we should get going now." Ilyana pointed towards the remainder of the group. Mia turned to face her and nodded, satisfying the rest of her anger by kicking a mound of sand on top of the pirate's body. She ran a hand through her dark-purple hair and hooked an arm around Ilyana's shoulders.

"Ah, our first battle together! It certainly was exciting, wasn't it?" Mia said happily, her face radiant. She shook Ilyana slightly, ruffling her hair a bit. "Fighting makes the blood race and fills you up with adrenaline and excitement! It's not something that should be advertised, but in its own way, fighting has a way for making us feel alive!"

"I guess so." Ilyana returned unsurely. Her own thoughts of battle contrasted sharply with Mia's. Most of her thoughts revolved around the terror, the pain, the worry, and the horrible feelings that a person felt in the chaos of warfare. She kept thinking of the battle that led her to Mia and the others. The rain made her sick and her hair kept getting plastered to her face. While it was true that her thunder magic would focus better in rain, it still made her feel miserable. And today, when she saw Mia fall, she felt a sort of fear that one can only feel when someone you care about is about to die. War and fighting were horrible aspects of humanity and Ilyana only hoped that it would someday end.

"Hey, you seem down. What's wrong, Ilyana?" Mia shook Ilyana good-naturedly, a smile on her face. The swordswoman plucked at a few loose strands of Ilyana's hair, mumbling incoherent things to herself. "We're partners, remember? We should help each other with our problems."

"It's nothing, Mia. But…" Ilyana smiled sheepishly. "Do you have any more food? I'm really hungry."

_---_

"So there you have it." Ike looked seriously at the assembled mercenaries. "Either we got unlucky and ran into a Daein patrol or they were already here, waiting for us."

It was the evening right after the fight and Ike wanted to inform everyone of the plans that he had. Ike crossed his fingers and grimaced. "I have no doubts that this will be tough, but I think we can manage to pull this off. Lethe, you said your king would like to speak with us?"

"Tch. I don't know why, but yes." Lethe, a female cat laguz with orange fur and angry, purple eyes, hissed. Obviously, she didn't think much of Ike or any of the other mercenaries. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" She stood up and departed from the room, ignoring the looks that were shot at her.

"Sheesh…Stupid sub-human." Soren whispered under his breath, glowering at Lethe. He pointed to a map that had been placed on the table. "Anyway, back to the business at hand. We are now at the borders of Gallia and I doubt that Daein has any more patrols in this area. If we remain on a straight course and not cause any trouble, we should make it."

"Okay, does everyone have their assignments?" Ike said, relieved to be out of the tedium of planning. "Good, now let's all get to work. The king of Gallia will receive us tomorrow, so don't do anything stupid."

_---_

"I can't believe we're actually going to Gallia." Mia said, a smile on her face. "Isn't this exciting, Ilyana?"

"Kind of…" Ilyana responded, looking slightly glum. "But I can't help feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"Don't worry! Nothing bad is going to happen." Mia cheered. "Now cheer up, Ilyana. Being all gloomy and depressed is a good way to get yourself killed. Now, since we're got some break time, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know." Ilyana shrugged. "Perhaps you could cook something for the trip?" She flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, but whenever I can't think of something to do, my mind always wanders to food. I get hungry so easily…"

"Ha ha!" Mia laughed and walked towards the makeshift kitchen tent that had been erected. "Okay, Ilyana. I'll make the best food a mercenary like me can every make in her life! Hopefully, it'll sate your hunger for a little while. OW!" Mia leaped backwards and winced, putting a hand to her throbbing ear.

"I'm sorry! I got so hungry listening to you that your ear looked so tasty and I just had to take a bite!" Ilyana explained, her face a bright red. "Um…Let's just go right now. I'm afraid I might try to eat your leg next. Mm…Chicken legs…"

"Right, to the kitchens!" Mia dashed towards the tent, trying to avoid Ilyana's hungry stare. Mia laughed as she felt the pain in her ear fade away. "Hopefully you won't try eating me during battle!"

"I-I'll try my best." Ilyana nodded, smiling.

_---_

Luckily for Ike and his mercenaries, everything had gone well at Castle Gallia, even though the king was unable to lend his official support due to political reasons. Unofficially, though, King Caineghis wished them the best of luck and gave them enough funds to supply them for a while. The King had also given them their next task. They were to escort Princess Elincia to Begnion to persuade the Apostle to lend the support of Begnion to their cause. Unfortunately, they were forced to travel back through Crimea, meaning that it was almost certain that the mercenaries would clash with the Daein army.

Mia was busy in her quarters in the castle, focusing her thoughts to the tasks she would have to do. A knock on the door broke her out of her meditation and she looked up, curious. "Who is it?"

"It's Rhys." The cleric said from behind the door. "May I enter?"

"Sure, why not?" Mia opened the door to allow the cleric inside. She flashed him a quick grin. "My fortune teller told me that challenging my rival today would be a bad idea, so don't worry about having swords thrown at you."

"Phew." Rhys smiled and sat down in one of the chairs scattered throughout the room. "I just came to see how you were doing. It was the first time I had ever used a restoration staff, so I wanted to see if there were any adverse effects."

"If you consider perfect health to be an adverse effect, then yes, there are." Mia smiled and sat down opposite of Rhys. A flicker of pain flew through Rhys' face and Mia halted, chagrined. "I'm sorry. I forgot about your illness."

"That's okay." Rhys waved away her concerns. "I've come to grips with my disease and in that, I'm becoming stronger and stronger. But this isn't about me. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing great." Mia stretched languidly, breathing a sigh of pleasure. "Your magical skills are really amazing."

"Thanks." Rhys stood, his white robes rustling around his legs. "I'd better go. There might be some other things that require my attention. Farewell." He left the room and Ilyana entered immediately afterward.

"Is there some 'Let's all talk to Mia!' event I'm unaware of?" Mia grinned, showing that she was just joking. "Come on inside. Is there something wrong?"

"O-Oh, no! I just came to thank you for all the food that you cooked for me." Ilyana said, curtseying. "It really helped a lot and the food was delicious. Where did you learn how to cook?"

"When you're a mercenary, you pick up these things. If you don't, then you'll be in trouble if you're low on supplies and money." Mia said. "Anyway, it was no problem. After all, we're partners, right? Partners should look after each other."

"Right." Ilyana nodded. "Um…Mia?"

"What?" Mia tilted her head to the side.

"Nothing!" Ilyana flushed and left, immediately breaking into a run. Mia shrugged, going back to meditate. However, she was unable to concentrate because curiosity had gotten the better of her. Groaning, she halted her exercises and left her room, searching for Ilyana. She wouldn't be able to concentrate unless she found out what Ilyana had wanted.

_---_

'_What was I going to say? Why was I going to say it?'_ Ilyana thought to herself, placing a hand to her chest and feeling the rapid beat of her heart. The mage looked around worriedly, hoping that no one would find her. She was too flustered to face anyone at the moment and even her hunger had been banished from her mind.

She took a few deep breaths and straightened, smoothing out her pigtails. Ilyana closed her eyes in order to calm herself down. "It was nothing. I was just worried about a friend."

'_That's the only reason why I was worried. Mia was my first friend here, so I was just worried about her safety.'_ Ilyana thought to herself. A portion of her mind brought up a conflicting argument but the mage squashed it before it could affect her.

"Ilyana!" Mia's voice filtered through the halls of the castle and Ilyana froze, her heart starting to beat rapidly again. "Where are you?"

"Ri-Right over here!" Ilyana responded, trying to bring herself under control again. The only other time she had felt like this was when she had gotten seasick and that felt a _lot_ more pleasant than how she felt now. "What is it, Mia?"

"Hey, I was just wondering what you were going to ask earlier." Mia said.

"Oh…I was just going to ask to see if you were okay." Ilyana replied nervously.

"Really?" Mia asked skeptically, one of her hands on her hips.

"Really." Ilyana nodded with more confidence than she felt. "Come on, I'm hungry again. Let's go get something to eat." She grabbed Mia's hand and started dragging the violet-haired girl towards the kitchens.

"H-Hey!" Mia protested. "What's the rush?" She managed to struggle out of the mage's grip and looked at her in confusion. "Ilyana, you're acting strange. Is there something bothering you?"

'_Yes.'_ Ilyana shook her head. "No. It's probably just the air. I always feel strange in humid environments like this. I'm sure I'll feel better when we get out of Gallia." She smiled half-heartedly. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Well, okay." Mia replied, looking concerned. "Are you _sure_ there's nothing else wrong?"

"Yes." Ilyana nodded, avoiding Mia's gaze. "Um…I need to go." She spun around and left for the kitchens, rubbing her stomach absent-mindedly.

Mia folded her arms, frowning. _'What is wrong with her? I know that she's lying, but why? Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later.'_

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Chris: Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any advice, suggestions, comments, or ideas are always welcome. So review please. 


	3. Spirit and Resolve

Chris: Thanks to all that reviewed and I'm glad you enjoy this story. So, here's another chapter for all of you. I'd say something catchy, but I don't have anything catchy on me at the moment. Have a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

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**Chapter 3: Spirit and Resolve**

Ilyana, after having gotten a nice snack from the Gallian kitchens, was munching on a couple of cookies that she had taken from Zihark when he wasn't looking. She felt kind of bad about taking them, but she had grown hungry again and her stomach would brook no delay in being filled. She walked inside her room and shut the door before flopping down on the bed, her mind filled with different thoughts.

'…' Ilyana stared at the decorated ceiling, wishing that all the turmoil within her would just disappear. She was very confused about everything and it didn't look like she was getting any answers soon. "Why…Why do I feel like this? This isn't right at all."

Ilyana closed her light-purple eyes and thought about previous events. The sharp lance of fear that she had felt when she saw Mia collapse. The strange, unnatural thoughts that had been running through her head these days. That new, rebellious part of her mind that seemed to welcome the new thoughts. It was all too confusing, but everything pointed to one thing. She was in love with Mia.

"But I can't be! It's not right!" Ilyana said to herself, her hands clenching into fists. "And besides, it's way too fast. I've only known her for around a month! I can't be falling in love with her already. Maybe it's something else…"

'_Don't delude yourself. You know what it is. You care for her. I guess your first meeting with Mia had more of an impact than you thought.'_

Ilyana grimaced. "No…Not at all. There must be a logical reason for all of this." She knew that if someone happened to pass by her room, she would be considered crazy for speaking to herself, but now she didn't care. Ilyana took another bite of her cookie and sighed.

'_But you're afraid, aren't you? After all, from what you know, Mia is a normal girl that likes **boys**. Not girls.'_

"Shut up." She whispered, but she knew her inner thoughts were correct. The mage was very afraid about what would happen if anyone found out how she felt. In this society, people who had different tastes like hers were often considered cursed and outcasts. If she told Mia how she felt, how would the swordswoman react? It scared her. What if Mia scorned her? What if Mia called her a freak for her feelings? And how would this change Mia's life? After all, it isn't every day when somebody of your own gender told you they loved you. It would haunt Mia for every day of her life.

'_You need to find out. You can't keep questioning. Just tell Mia how you feel so that she knows you love her.'_

Ilyana took a deep breath and came to a decision. There was no reason to drag Mia in all of this. She could deal with her own problems without making Mia feel strange. If she could fall in love with Mia, she could fall out of love with Mia. And then everything would be fine.

'_Doing this will crush you. Don't even try it. The only way you can make this work is by accepting it.'_

If there was anything you could say about Ilyana, it was that she was a very hungry girl. Another thing you could say is that she was very stubborn when she wanted to. Now that her plan was set, she wasn't going to let anything stop her. She pushed away the rebellious thoughts and felt relieved.

"I'm hungry again." Ilyana said to herself. She walked back towards the kitchen, humming to herself.

_---_

The missions passed with very little in the way of problems. The mercenary group, which was growing fairly large, had picked up a couple of new recruits. Sure, there were some scary moments during the fighting when it seemed like there was no escape. One such moment was when the Black Knight, one of the Four Generals of Daein, appeared right smack in the middle of the port city of Toha. Another situation was when their ship had gotten wrecked because they crashed in a couple of rocks.

Throughout their travels, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Boyd was still getting yelled at for not training enough, Oscar still managed to go through life with closed eyes and a small smile, Mist got better at cooking, and Soren was still being grumpy and pessimistic. However, not everything was going that well in the mercenary camp.

First of all, guards had to be posted around the supplies because some mysterious stranger kept stealing the food. Second of all, one of the new recruits, Gatrie, was driving everyone crazy because he insisted on doing morning workouts dressed only in shorts. As you can probably imagine, this did nothing to help the morale of the mercenaries. And finally, Mia was growing very confused.

While she and Ilyana had continued functioning well as a team, outside of the battle, the mage had pretty much cut all ties with her. Mia didn't like to think that Ilyana was avoiding her, but in all aspects, it seemed like she was. The swordswoman tried to figure it out, but nobody else could think of a reason as to Ilyana's behavior. It didn't seem like she ate anything strange, although she ate almost everything.

'_What's wrong with her?' _Mia thought as she paced around the campsite, her hands clasped behind her back. She narrowed her blue-green eyes and thought about Ilyana. _'Why would she avoid me? It doesn't make much sense. Did I do anything to make her angry?'_

Not looking at where she was going, she bumped into Rhys and fell to the ground, surprised. Shaking her head, she looked up to see the cleric holding out a hand to help her up. Smiling sheepishly, Mia accepted the hand and got up to her feet. "Sorry 'bout that, Rhys."

"No problem, Mia." Rhys smiled pleasantly. "So, what's on your mind? You're not one to walk around in a daze and bump into people. Is it about Ilyana again?"

"H-How did you know?" Mia stammered, amazed that Rhys was able to read her thoughts so easily. She occupied herself by brushing the dirt off of her skirt, ignoring Rhys' knowing smile.

"It's not that hard to tell. After all, you've been asking about her a lot, recently." He shrugged. "But tell me, what's bothering you about her? You can tell me. We're friends, right?"

"Yeah." Mia nodded thankfully. "It's just that…Ilyana is avoiding me! I mean, earlier, she _was_ kind of a nuisance, but it was always fun with her around! Now she won't even talk to me! Sure, she helps me out during battle, but afterwards, it's like she's a whole new person! I know she's avoiding me, but I don't know why?"

"Was there something you said?" Rhys asked concernedly.

"Of course not!" Mia protested. "Ilyana's my friend! I wouldn't say anything to hurt her or something."

"Okay, when did she first act strange?"

"Hmmm…The day before we arrived at Castle Gallia. Yeah, it was then." Mia nodded confidently. "She was about to ask me something when she ran away. I wanted to ask her what the question was, but she just said she was hungry. I didn't believe her."

"Obviously, everything happened because of the question that Ilyana was going to ask you." Rhys reasoned. "After that, she began avoiding you, correct?"

"Yep. She always asked me to cook for her earlier, but now she doesn't. And we all know how much Ilyana eats! It's remarkable that she's still that thin! I'm getting kind of lonely without her with me. Besides, I'm getting worried. Ilyana seems a little too pale to me."

Rhys nodded. "Well, keep trying. I'm sure you'll find a way to break through her shell. And don't forget that I'm always free if you want to talk." He patted Mia on the shoulder as he rose and walked away.

"Thanks Rhys." Mia smiled at the cleric. "I owe you one."

_---_

"Sheesh, damn fog!" Mia cursed as she waved her free hand into the air, trying futilely to somehow banish the fog from the air. The mercenaries had been tasked by the Apostle of Begnion to intercept a bunch of merchants and it seemed as if it would be the perfect mission. If it wasn't for the annoying fog that kept clouding her vision, Mia might have even thought that she could relax.

Mia heard Ilyana laughing behind her and spun around in mock anger. "Don't laugh! This fog is pissing me off!" She grumbled and continued waving her hands, trying to find some way to work through the muck. "Too bad you can't eat it. If you could, then we'd have no trouble."

"Hee hee…" Ilyana giggled, a happy smile gracing her face. "If I could eat fog, I would never be hungry again."

"Yeah!" Mia said, laughing. She stopped when she remembered where they were and grew somber. Her grip tightened on the sword she held and she looked around warily for enemies. "Ilyana, get ready. I think there's someone nearby."

"Huh? Okay." Ilyana fumbled for the tome that was tied to a sash at her waist.

"Hey, watch out!" Mia cried.

"What?" Ilyana heard a sound from behind her and turned, seeing a man with a large axe rushing towards her. Mia shoved her aside and brought her sword up to deflect the axe, grimacing as she slowly bowed under the bandit's greater strength.

"Let me help!" Ilyana flipped through the pages of her book, trying to find a spell powerful enough to kill their assailant.

"Don't cast anything with electricity!" Mia shouted as she jumped backwards. "The current will travel through his weapon and go through mine!" She charged towards her enemy, lancing her one-handed sword in a quick thrust that pierced the bandit's side.

"R-Right!" Ilyana responded, still searching for an appropriate spell.

Mia's sword flicked past the bandit's axe and struck him in the arm, causing the man to howl with rage and swing his weapon wildly at Mia's head. The swordswoman ducked under the swing and brought her elbow up into the man's stomach. Mia quickly ended it by thrusting her sword through the man's chest, piercing the heart and killing him. Unfortunately for her, at that moment, her legs slipped out from under her and she fell to the ground and the bandit's corpse fell on top of her.

"Get off!" Mia struggled against the bigger man's bulk but was unable to escape. "Ilyana! Help! I'm stuck!"

"Ha ha!" Ilyana couldn't help laughing at Mia's predicament. A little well of warmth flowed through her and she looked at Mia fondly. Her friend was really funny and Ilyana wished that she could tell Mia how she felt about her. Still, she promised to not tell Mia so her friend could live a normal life.

"What's so funny? This guy is heavy!" Mia shouted from under the body. "And he smells, too! Come on, Ilyana! Help me out here!"

"Sorry!" Ilyana apologized as she hurried over to Mia's side, trying to restrain the urge to continue laughing. Between the two of them, they were able to drag the body off of Mia and the swordswoman took a deep breath in relief. Then, grinning wickedly, Mia dragged the mage down to join her on the ground.

"There! That's revenge for laughing at me!" Mia chuckled, laughing at Ilyana's surprised expression.

Ilyana laughed as well, smiling broadly as she looked up from her position on the ground. She looked at Mia and felt some blood rush to her face as she looked at Mia's angelic features. Ilyana felt her hand slowly reach out to grasp Mia's and she breathed a sigh of contentment.

"Hey Ilyana?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm really glad you're with me. Heh, I probably wouldn't have lasted this long if it wasn't for you being at my side." Mia said gratefully. She rolled on her side to look at Ilyana with a warm smile. "Thanks a lot."

"Oh…You're welcome." Ilyana whispered back. Abruptly, she stood up and began brushing specks of dirt off of her blouse and skirt. "We'd better go. This is still a fight, you know."

"Ilyana?" Mia pushed herself up. "What's wrong?"

Her tone sounded concerned and Ilyana felt her heart leap within her chest. _'Don't hurt yourself any more. Just tell her.'_ Ilyana shook her head and didn't look backwards. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing at all. Come on, let's go." She walked in the fog, leaving Mia behind her.

"Ilyana?" Mia asked worriedly. "What is it?"

"I said it was nothing!" Ilyana shouted. She spun on her heel and faced her friend, her light-purple eyes blazing with anger and a little fear. Mia looked so hurt by her words that Ilyana wanted to just drop the act and hold her. But Ilyana steeled herself and prepared to say words that she had never wanted to say.

"Mia, stop pestering me! You're making me sick with all of your questions!" Ilyana raged. She felt a ripping sensation within her chest and she almost stopped. "Just…Just leave me alone! I'm tired…I'm just really tired."

"Ilyana…I'm sorry. I didn't know." Mia whispered.

"Well now you know!" Ilyana felt sick to her stomach and it wasn't because she was hungry. She couldn't look at Mia anymore and she looked away, her hands clenched into fists. "Just leave me alone."

"Okay, Ilyana. If you want me to…"

"I do." Ilyana said resolutely.

"Then…I guess I'll just have to leave you alone." Mia smiled weakly. "Let's just finish this and I'll see what I can do about having Ike change our partnership." She sighed and jogged forward into the fog. "Not matter how you may feel…I enjoyed working with you."

Ilyana watched as Mia was swallowed up by the fog. Choking back a sob, the mage followed behind, desperately trying not to cry. She failed, however, and swallowed thickly as she tasted the salty tears that were falling down her face.

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Chris: It's drama! Who can see what will happen next? Even _I_ don't know what will happen! Seriously, I don't. Aaaaanyway…Review please and tell me what you think! 


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